The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
CHAPTER ONE: THE CYCLONE

by L. Frank Baum

DOROTHY LIVED IN THE MIDST of the great Kansas prairies, with
Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife.
Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by
wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which
made one room; and this room contained a rusty-looking cooking
stove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and
the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner and
Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no garret at all,
and no cellar—except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone
cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great
whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path.
It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the floor, from which a
ladder led down into the small, dark hole.

When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see
nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a
house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge
of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a
gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was
not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until
they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house
had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed
it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.

When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The
sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her
eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her
cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt,
and never smiled now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to
her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child's laughter that she
would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy's
merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little
girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.

Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night
and did not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard
to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.

It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as
gray as her other surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a little
black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled
merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day
long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.

Today, however, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon the
doorstep and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer than
usual. Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked
at the sky too. Aunt Em was washing the dishes.

From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle
Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves before
the coming storm. There now came a sharp whistling in the air from the
south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw ripples in
the grass coming from that direction also.

FROM THE FAR NORTH they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle
Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves before
the coming storm.

Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up.

"There's a cyclone coming, Em," he called to his wife. "I'll go look
after the stock." Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows and
horses were kept.

Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her
of the danger close at hand.

"Quick, Dorothy!" she screamed. "Run for the cellar!"

Toto jumped out of Dorothy's arms and hid under the bed, and the
girl started to get him. Aunt Em, badly frightened, threw open the
trap door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small,
dark hole. Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt.
When she was halfway across the room there came a great shriek from
the wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing and
sat down suddenly upon the floor.

Then a strange thing happened.

The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly
through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.

The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the
exact center of the cyclone. In the middle of a cyclone the air is
generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of
the house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very top
of the cyclone; and there it remained and was carried miles and
miles away as easily as you could carry a feather.

THE HOUSE WHIRLED around two or three times and rose slowly
through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.

It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but
Dorothy found she was riding quite easily. After the first few
whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she
felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.

Toto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there,
barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited to
see what would happen.

Once Toto got too near the open trap door, and fell in; and at first
the little girl thought she had lost him. But soon she saw one of
his ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of
the air was keeping him up so that he could not fall. She crept to the
hole, caught Toto by the ear, and dragged him into the room again,
afterward closing the trap door so that no more accidents could
happen.

Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright;
but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about
her that she nearly became deaf. At first she had wondered if she
would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the
hours passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and
resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring. At last
she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it;
and Toto followed and lay down beside her.

In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind,
Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.